“The dry leaf is dark, curly, and multicoloured, with yellow and white flashes throughout; it smelled of plums and honey. However, after I steeped it, the sweet smell deepened into something closer...” Read full tasting note
“This is a review for the 2015 Oriental Beauty. The leaves were picked in August in Pinglin, New Taipei (Taiwan), by Mr. Chen Shi Yi (http://www.sannetea.com/about-our-partners/) and it’s 100%...” Read full tasting note
“This is the 2015 Summer Tea. This tea is beautiful! I love Oriental Beauty simply because of its wild assortment of leaves. They look like the autumn leaves around my house, and I just adore that....” Read full tasting note
“Had this one today – a free sample from Sanne Tea that Lulu sent. There was also a free handmade tiny soap that was a nice surprise. Thanks Lulu. This tea was perfect for an autumn day. The tea...” Read full tasting note
Oriental Beauty is also known as Bai Hao (white tips) Oolong, or Champagne Oolong. The beautiful name, many people believe, is from Queen Victoria. When brewed, the leaves generally spread in water, like a graceful lady dancing with gorgeous finery.
To make Oriental Beauty, farmers have to grow tea trees without pesticides, so Jacobiasca formosana, a type of green leafhopper insect, can feed on the leaves, stems, and buds. This leads to the tea plant’s production of monoterpene diol and hotrienol which gives the tea its unique flavor. Tea leaves bitten by the green leafhopper insect lose their green color and appear bronzed or washed out, eventually becoming atrophic and curly. It is why the high quality Oriental Beauty shows five different colors: white, red, yellow, green and brown.
The tea leaves are only harvested and made in summer, when the green leafhopper insects are most active. What makes Oriental Beauty more precious is that the unique sweetness is produced when the leaves only bitten by Jacobiasca formosana. Tea leaves, infested with other insects, like Ectropis oblique and Toxoptera aurantii, won’t produce honey flavor. This uncontrollable eco system makes Oriental Beauty one of the rarest teas in the world.
The tea comes from Cuku, Pinglin Dist, near Feitsui Reservoir area. All tea leaves have to be handpicked to ensure that each leaf has been bitten by Jacobiasca formosana. Because of the difficulty involved in harvesting this tea, a professional tea picker can only harvest 0.7 to 1kgs each day.
This tea has natural ripe fruit and honey flavors with a smooth texture and multiplayer floral finish. When brewed, the tea liquor has a clean and bright golden color. The full-bodied, mellow, and aromatic flavors will bring you ultimate luxury experience.
Sanne Tea is the place where you can find high-quality and pesticide-free Taiwanese tea. The founder came from a Taiwanese family that loves and drinks tea for several generations. We want to share our enthusiasm and passion for Taiwanese tea and natural farming with the world. As our commitment, we source and sell 100% natural, zero pesticide teas. We are very excited about the teas that we have to offer, and are very much looking forward to meeting other tea lovers here. We worked hard to find the Taiwanese tea that is 100% grown in Taiwan and build the relationships with local farmers, not to mention that the tea has to be affordable. We, along with several tea farmers who we trust, would like to promote true Taiwanese tea to the global market. Thank you for visiting us and please go to our website:www.sannetea.com